from a sharp angle -- flipped the ball over 'keeper Tony Meola and into the net.
The Wizards answered three minutes later and then went ahead in the 24th minute on their first and second shots on goal, both on corner kicks. On each goal, the Wizards took advantage of soft Crew defending. On the first, Kansas City center back Jimmy Conrad beat Chad Marshall to the ball and headed in his first goal of the season. The Wizards' other center back, Shavar Thomas, got his first goal of the year with another header from a corner.
For the remainder of the first half and the first 15 minutes of the second, each team tried to maintain possession, with the Wizards getting the upper hand in that battle. The next threat on either goal didn't come until the 63rd minute, when Cunningham stepped up to convert a penalty for his second goal of the match.
The Wizards protested referee Marcel Yonan's decision that Garcia had pulled Cunningham down in the box, but the penalty was given without hesitation and Cunningham fired the ball just out of the reach of Meola.
For 20 minutes after Cunningham's second, the two teams went back and forth trying to get the winner. In the 66th minute, Davy Arnaud nearly restored the Wizards' lead, but his low screamer went wide of the net.
New Zealand native Duncan Oughton had two chances to put the Crew ahead, but his 72nd-minute laser was held by Meola and his header in the 81st hit the outside of the post.
Both teams are back in action next Saturday, with the Crew (4-3-3) traveling to Washington, D.C. to take on United (7:30 p.m. ET) and the Wizards (5-4-3) continuing their long road swing with a trip to New England to take on the Revolution (7:30 p.m.; HDNet).
MLSnet.com Man of the Match: Jeff Cunningham (Columbus Crew)
Kansas City Wizards (5-4-3) vs. Columbus Crew (4-3-3)
June 12, 2004 -- Columbus Crew Stadium
Scoring Summary:
CLB -- Jeff Cunningham 4 (Michael Ritch 1, Manny Lagos 2) 18
KC -- Jimmy Conrad 1 (Chris Klein 3) 21
KC -- Shavar Thomas 1 (Chris Klein 4) 24
CLB -- Jeff Cunningham 5 (penalty kick) 63
Kansas City Wizards -- Tony Meola, Alex Zotinca, Jimmy Conrad, Shavar Thomas (Jose Burciaga Jr. 88), Nick Garcia, Chris Klein, Kerry Zavagnin, Jack Jewsbury (Francisco Gomez 76), Diego Gutierrez, Davy Arnaud, Josh Wolff.
Substitutes Not Used: Taylor Graham, Bo Oshoniyi, Matt Taylor.
TOTAL SHOTS: 10 (3 tied with 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Jimmy Conrad 2); FOULS: 17 (Nick Garcia 4); OFFSIDES: 5 (Davy Arnaud 2, Josh Wolff 2); CORNER KICKS: 4 (Chris Klein 4); SAVES: 4 (Tony Meola 4)
Columbus Crew -- Jon Busch, Nelson Akwari, Robin Fraser, Chad Marshall, Duncan Oughton, Manny Lagos (Simon Elliott 77), Kyle Martino (Devin Barclay 89), Ross Paule, Eric Denton, Michael Ritch (David Testo 46), Jeff Cunningham.
Substitutes Not Used: Clint Baumstark, Edson Buddle, Brian Maisonneuve, Jamal Sutton, Jake Traeger, Chris Wingert.
TOTAL SHOTS: 11 (Jeff Cunningham 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 6 (Jeff Cunningham 3); FOULS: 11 (Robin Fraser 3); OFFSIDES: 2 (Jeff Cunningham 2); CORNER KICKS: 3 (Ross Paule 2); SAVES: 3 (Jon Busch 3)
Misconduct Summary:
KC -- Diego Gutierrez (caution; Professional Foul) 70
Referee: Marcel Yonan
Referee's Assistants: -George Gansner; Jorge De la Bandera
4th Official: Mikael Lundqvist
Attendance: 13,680
Time of Game: 1:46
Weather: Partly Cloudy-and-72-degrees
All Statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial.
